


Coffee Cup

by MilkTeaMiku



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops & Cafés, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, F/M, Fluff, Mutual Pining, Pining
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-28
Updated: 2017-02-28
Packaged: 2018-09-27 11:42:34
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,500
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10019057
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MilkTeaMiku/pseuds/MilkTeaMiku
Summary: Shiro has a crush on the cute barista down the street.





	

Shiro didn’t have a job.

Well, he did, but it didn’t feel like one. After his accident in the Garrison and his subsequent amputation surgery, he’d been left with no means to continue piloting. Out of consideration for his service, not only had he been given the best, high-tech prosthetic money could afford, but he’d been given another job too, however… it wasn’t exactly what he wanted to be doing with his life.

For a lack of a better word, it was a desk job. Good pay, but boring work. He spent all day writing and organising work in an office at the back of a library funded by the Garrison. He didn’t exactly hate it, but he didn’t like it either. Compared to piloting, it felt like it was nothing.

He did have something to look forwards to, despite the fact that he didn’t enjoy his job. The library where he worked was on a pretty quiet street, of which featured a number of nice places to be – a park, a café, and an antiques store were a few to name. It was Altea Café that he liked the most though, but not for the reasons one might assume. While he did enjoy their coffee and their above average food, it was their server he liked the most.

Allura was a beautiful girl. _Very_ beautiful. Her smile and warm nature had drawn him in, and her sweet attitude had kept him coming back to the café just about every day. He’d fallen for her day one, without hesitance, and had been helplessly drawn back to her side every day since then.

It wasn’t something he’d normally do, especially not after his accident. He didn’t ever go around falling for people like he’d fallen for Allura. Nagging thoughts of inadequacy and disgust at the scars on his shoulder where the prosthetic melded with his skin kept him from pursuing any sort of meaningful relationship in his life. He lost friends and crushes within months and found himself lonely and withdrawn, his days wasted away at an office in the back of a library. In a sense, the café was a breath of fresh air – one he attributed completely and wholly to Allura.

She was just so _sweet._ She always smiled at him, always drew a little heart on his coffee cup next to his name. He knew it was her job, and that he was seeing everything she did through rose-coloured glasses, but he couldn’t help himself. He’d fallen for her faster than a shooting star fell to Earth.

“You like the barista at that café down the street.”

Of course it would be Matt who noticed his affections first. He visited Shiro once a week at the library, and they often went to the café during Shiro’s lunch break. 

“It’s so obvious,” Matt continued, oblivious to Shiro’s embarrassment. “Are you going to ask her out? You should, she definitely likes you too.”

“I don’t think so,” Shiro said, flustered. He inattentively clenched his prosthetic hand, and winced at the sound of it clicking unnaturally when his fingertips met his palm. “She probably has a boyfriend.”

“She doesn’t,” Matt insisted. “She’s friends with Pidge, you know. I asked about her for you.”

“Matt!” Shiro said, mortified. “What did you do?”

“Nothing bad!” Matt laughed. “But Pidge said she likes you too, so go for it. You never know, right?”

“I wouldn’t even know what to say.”

It was a weak excuse, but it was the one he stuck with. Every time he thought about asking Allura on a date, his words got jumbled in his mouth, and his palms got sweaty. There was no way he could do that, he’d mess it up. He was content to pine away like a teenager falling in love for the first time.

But Matt’s words didn’t leave him. If Allura really _did_ like him, then was that pretty smile of hers something more? What about the way she let her fingers linger around his cup when she handed him his order? And what about the way she greeted him, when she said his name like it was a pleased sigh and not just a friendly greeting?

It couldn’t all be in his head, could it? Not even he was that delusional.

But still… If – and it was a big _if_ – she did like him, then maybe he should do something about it. He hadn’t liked anyone the way he liked Allura in a long time, let alone date anyone, but maybe it was time to try again. Even he got lonely.

Of course, that didn’t mean he had the nerves to try. When he next went to the café, and Allura gave him that dazzling smile, he was rendered weak at the knees. How was it possible that a single person could radiate so much beauty?

“Break time already, Shiro?”

“Y-yeah,” he said, as he nervously rubbed the back of his neck. Allura was leaning across the counter, her elbows propped on its surface. Her hair was tied up today, but loose strands came down to frame her face. “The usual?”

“Sure thing,” she grinned. 

He couldn’t help but smile. He guessed he really was star struck, but how could he not be? It was with a fond sigh that he found himself a seat to wait for his drink. This really was the best part of his day – everything from the chiming of the bell above the door to the sweet scent of whichever pastries were on display were a familiar comfort now to him now.

It was nice to see Allura work. She looked at home in the café, and moved around with ease. Sometimes, she didn’t even need to look before she reached for something she needed. Sometimes, it reminded Shiro of how he used to pilot. It was hypnotizing to watch, but he tried not to stare too much. 

When she was done with his coffee, he stood, and met her halfway across the room. He expected their exchange to go how it usually did – she’d hand him the drink, and he’d smile at her hopelessly, and the soft touch of her fingers would leave his hands warm for the rest of the day. 

That wasn’t what happened.

No, instead she lost her footing, and the coffee went flying. He yelped as it burned through his clothes, but that didn’t stop him from lurching forwards to grab at Allura when she slipped. She didn’t hit the ground, but coffee soaked straight through Shiro’s shirt and seeped into hers where they were pressed together. With that realisation, he suddenly couldn’t feel the heat of the coffee anymore.

“I’m so sorry!” She exclaimed, as she carefully righted herself. There was coffee on the floor, and her fingers dug tiny marks into his arms as she found her balance. “Are you alright? I’m so sorry, Shiro.”

“It’s alright, it’s alright,” he said. He winced as he pulled his sticky shirt away from his skin, and wondered how hard it would be to get coffee stains out. He probably shouldn’t have worn a white shirt. “You didn’t get burned, did you?”

She shook her head, and gave him a worried look. Her cheeks were red when her eyes drifted down to his shirt, and embarrassed, he covered his face with his hand. He definitely shouldn’t have worn white. “Are you sure you’re alright?” She asked.

When he nodded, the worried pinch in her brow lessened, and she gave him a small smile. “You have to let me make it up to you,” she said.

He flushed. “I-it’s fine, you don’t have to-”

“I want to.”

She was going to be the death of him. There was a nervous look on her face, but her eyes were glowing. It was like she had stars in them, and it sent his heart _racing._ “Okay,” he conceded before he’d really realised what he was saying. He really liked this girl, and with a look like that in her eyes, he suddenly felt confident. “Do you want to go to dinner? W-with me, I mean.”

Allura’s eyes widened, and she reached for his hands. “Yes,” she exclaimed, before flushing. “I mean, that’s sounds good. We should- we should totally do that. Can I have your number?”

“Y-yeah.”

He left the café with a new coffee and a promise for a text message from Allura. He couldn’t stop smiling, even though he had to hold his jacket over the coffee stain on his shirt and he knew he probably looked like an idiot. It didn’t matter.

His excitement was so overwhelming that not even Matt’s smug _I told you so_ text could get him to stop smiling. He knew Matt had probably found out from Pidge, but that just meant Allura had told Pidge, didn’t it? And that meant she was excited too. 

Even if he had been a nervous wreck, he left that store feeling utterly satisfied.

**Author's Note:**

> Happy birthday, Shiro ❤


End file.
